1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of tools and methods for creating works of art. More particularly the present invention relates to a system and method for creating a proportionally accurate likeness of a subject in an artwork.
2. State of the Art
Many artists are skilled in the various mediums of art. They may create unique and beautiful works of art such as drawings, paintings, or sculptures. In many of these artworks a realistic portrayal of the person, object or other subject is desirable.
However, despite the artist's skill and desire in working in his selected medium, it remains difficult even for the experience professional to consistently create a good likeness between a real life subject, whether a person, animal, still life, or landscape, and the image that appears in the artwork. This is particularly true when an artist sets out to create a portrait of a human subject. In this instance even a slight change in, for example, the size of the eyes, location of the ears, puffiness of the cheeks, location of wrinkles, or shape of the face might produce a poor likeness of the subject in an otherwise faultless piece of art.
The difficulty with producing a good likeness can be true of any artwork from a simple pencil drawing, to the most complex oil painting or sculpture. In fact it is one of the major difficulties that has plagued artists from the beginner to the seasoned master for countless generations.
Many devices have been created to assist an artist in creating a realistic likeness of a subject. For example the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,673,490; 6,568,938; 6,579,099; 7,389,589 have been developed to purportedly assist artists in creating better likenesses of their subjects.
However, each of these devices suffers from a variety of limitations. For example the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,490 uses a grid system on a static cling surface that can be attached to a light box or similar tracing aid. This device merely uses a grid to facilitate tracing of a photograph or other print and cannot be used to view landscapes, still life, or live models directly. Similar limitations are found in the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,568,938; 6,579,099; and 7389,569 each of which uses a variation of gridding and tracing to allow artists to copy or trace their subject. Further many of these devices require that the artwork itself be gridded. The gridding of the artwork introduces another step at which a mistake can be made resulting in a distorted and not accurate portrayal of the subject in the artwork.
While it is true that copying, gridding, and tracing help artists create a realistic likeness of their subjects, tracing does not teach the artists to view the entire subject and transfer their impression of model to the artwork. Rather it forces the artist to concentrate on a small portion of the model and copy that small portion. Small differences between the copied and traced sections may add up over the whole artwork to create an unrealistic rendering of the subject. Further, copying and tracing are generally perceived as novice methods by experienced and professional artists who could also benefit from a tool that assists them in perceiving and drawing a subject in accurate proportions.